This Torbreck Shiraz cuvée is a skilful blend of fruit from a 40 year old Eden Valley Shiraz vineyard and an 80 year old Barossa Shiraz vineyard – a marriage of elegance and intensity. While the Eden Valley region is most associated with the white wine variety,;Riesling, it also produces elegant, tautly structured Shiraz which is highly prized by winemakers.

The Penfolds Bin 150 Marananga Shiraz is a relatively new addition to the Penfolds stable, sourced from the Barossan sub-district, Marananga. Simply a revelation, this wine is an inky, black beast in the glass with lashings of dark chocolate and coffee accented fruit, yet this years offering shows a lingering, soft structured finish that will see the wine cellar very nicely.

One of the benchmarks of Barossa Shiraz, Peter Lehmann's Stonewell is a classic example of the rich concentrated old vine style. While bold on the palate, there is always an inherent complexity to the Stonewell that enables it to be compared with all of the great Australian wines produced today.

The Glaetzer family have been part of the Barossa winemaking scene since 1888 and now Ben takes over the reigns and produces Shiraz of the utmost intensity and concentration. Named after the ancient Egyptian god Amon-Ra who was the champion of the poor and troubled and was central to personal piety, the temple of Amon-Ra is believed to be the first to plant a vineyard to produce wine for the citizens of the temple. This incarnation is rich, full-bodied and viscous to the palate, yet with sublime oak integration and a balance on the back palate that is quite lifted allowing it to be paired with many meals and a prime candidate for medium to long term cellaring.

Originally an Apricot Orchard and re planted with Shiraz vines in 1974. Hence the name Apricot Block. Totally opaque black crimson colour. Superb pronounced nose , with flavours of plum., spice and black pepper. The palate is mouth filling flavours of plum, blackberry. pepper and dark chocolate. Fine grained tannins perfectly balanced. Very long aftertaste. of black pepper , plum and blackberry.

After a few years of cellaring, this iconic Barossa Valley Shiraz from Turkey Flat has evolved into a bold yet beautifully balanced classic. The intense fruit has mellowed into rich, dark layers of blackberry, plum and spice, with the oak now seamlessly integrated. Still full-bodied, the wine shows added depth and softness, with silky tannins and a long, elegant finish. A refined expression of Barossa Shiraz that rewards time and patience.

The 2015 Steading has a fragrancy, purity of fruit, mid-palate concentration and savoury tannin profile that makes it an exemplary wine. Vibrant aromas of violet, star anise hints of violet and spice all unfold to reveal an impressive array of underlying fruit flavours. Silky, succulent dark fruits, black olive, savoury earth, liquorice and Asian spice. These complex yet elegant flavours are all neatly interwoven with a perfect balance of acidity and supple, silky tannins. The 2015 Steading will continue to develop with time in the cellar, and provide those with patience great enjoyment well into the next decade.

It’s no secret that Shiraz is the core strength of the Barossa. It has; is, and always will be quintessential to our region. This is due to the dedication of generations of Barossans. With this, I pay the highest respect to the great wines of the 80’s and 90’s; the wines that showed the world how great the Barossa is, in the hope the new generation of winemakers and grape growers don’t forget the thing that gave them the opportunity to do what they do and love now.

Henschke have in recent years begun to identify and single out great quality parcels of Shiraz fruit that deserves to be bottled seperately and released as part of their Vineyard Selection. The Tappa Pass Shiraz is sourced from old low yielding Barossa vineyards that shows amazing depth and concentration. Rich, lush and intense it will develop further complexity with bottle age.

The 2019 vintage of the MSG blend from Utopos was open fermented as separate parcels and blended post barrel maturation. Selective machine harvested. Then transferred direct to open fermenter. 7 day cold soak and 5-7 day fermentation with cultured yeast acclimatised and added at the end of cold soak. Pumped over twice daily and fermented between 22 and 28 degrees C. Slotted screen bag pressed to tank. Racked off gross lees to barrel after a few days settling for malolactic fermentation. Approximately 40% new French oak (mostly 500-600L puncheons) for around 2 years. Balance being 2nd and 3rd fill French oak.